Tonight is Cook Club- the boys taking their turn in the kitchen

it will be a lot of fun and hopefully the food will be enjoyable too. I have rescued a couple of bottles of ten year old Australian Cabernet to fortify us during the afternoon and I am really starting to look forward to the time with Chef Giorgio, Chef Enzo and Chef Tommaso.
It will be a busy weekend with a mate from Sydney arriving in town tomorrow morning- I hope to be able to catch up with him after a visit to the gym. Fingers crossed that the weather stays pleasant and we can sit outside somewhere and have a beer or two and catch up.
From the start of October, I am taking part in another photo challenge with the gang from NikonCafe and looking forward to that being another learning experience. There are always plenty of great photographers involved and if just 2.3% of their talent were to rub off on me I would be very happy.

Warren Buffett has opened his wallet

and thrown a chunk of cash at Goldman in the hope that the US Congress will pass the financial system bailout package quickly and that the situation in the markets will start to improve. I'm sure that this will be seen as a sign by lots of other investors both large and small but I still have my doubts about the whole rescue package. Ben Bernanke made comments yesterday that the biggest problems were psychological and although getting these distressed assets off the books should help, I don't believe that it will do a great deal in the short term. Since the start of the whole liquidity crisis over a year ago, the banks have stopped wanting to lend to one another- this won't solve that problem overnight.
We had a little visit to the Chief last night for sushi- the first time for a couple of weeks. As usual, the food was fantastic and the good news is that afterwards I was able to collect my camera from the shop after a little maintenance. That means that I should be ready to take part in the Oktoberfest Photo Challenge next month!

Up in the morning and off to school..........

After a couple of weeks of leisure, we are both headed back to the office in the morning. In spite of being out during the great financial upheaval of the last two weeks, we have both kept reasonably up-to-date with happenings and it will certainly be an eye-opener to wander in tomorrow. Our time off has been filled with piracy, birthday celebrations, good food, fantastic wine, good friends, photography, reading, a little sport and some sleeping- just what I needed!
I have recovered from my cold and am back into the gym habit- hopefully with a few more weeks of that we can also get out and do a little more hiking this autumn. It is normally the nicest part of the year- trees in great colours, perfect temperatures and less rain than in the spring.
The lovely Mrs Seres reports that all is well and that Michael is looking forward to a meal of slow-roasted lamb with feta and green olive dressing................. at least they have the recipe now :-)

Aaaaarrrggghhh! Avast!

Ahoy- today be International Talk Like A Pirate Day....... and I would suggest that you all do so! Aaarrggh!

Happy Birthday Catherine XXXXX

I hope that you have a great day- I will be doing my best to make sure that you do! Enjoy and relax and try to recover from the rigours of our trip to the Engadine. Don't worry, I can shop and cook dinner while you are choosing a bottle of wine xxxx

The Engadine was terrific

and we had a wonderful day out in Val Trupchun yesterday. With the help of Catherine's fantastic telescope we were able to watch Steinbock, Hirsch and Gäms and we were even able to see a few Murmeltiere with the naked eye :-) The abundance of wildlife in that part of the National Park is amazing and it was great to be there on a day when there were not too many people about, the weather was perfect and the animals were out sunning themselves and taking it easy.
I took a few photos in the village of Zernez where we stayed and the only real disappointment was that the animals were far too far away to even attempt to photograph. One of the good things about the Park is that you are not allowed to leave the marked trails- which means that the wildlife does not get disturbed too often by mankind, the downside of this is that one is unable to stalk the large animals with a camera in hand in pursuit of better photos. We were able to watch animals at distances of over 1,000 m with the telescope and that certainly made lugging the tripod worthwhile.
There have been some interesting and scary developments in the financial markets in the last few days- Lehmann Bros going to the wall, Merrill Lynch running into the arms of BofA and AIG needing to ask for a big help-out of taxpayer funds. Closer to home, UBS shares have been pummelled again and I am curious to see how the week will end.

I have sore hands and am pretty tired

but I really think that I need to finish building this Ark in the next few hours :-) It has been hosing down here since Friday night- perfect time to be heading off to the mountains for a few days on holiday..... NOT!
We will pack up our gear and hopefully get up there this evening- the weather report for tomorrow is already a little better and I really want to take some photos up in the Engadine and the National Park. There should be lots of large animals about and with a little luck we will be able to get some photos of them, the park in general and also some of the lovely old villages in that part of the world.
I had an interesting conversation yesterday afternoon with a friend who is also involved in the financial markets- we discussed the US Fed's policy thus far of stepping in and helping to clean up whenever there have been major problems with American financial institutions. This "death by a thousand cuts" way of doing things is difficult for the markets as well as being costly for the taxpayers- perhaps it would be wiser to let asset prices fall a bit more and then wait for natural buyers to support the market when valuations reach "bargain" levels. There is not a lot of good economic news around at the moment and it will be a while before US consumers (and indeed European and Asian consumers as well) open their wallets, let the cash flow and kick-start the economy again.
I hope that all of the Mooses (Marty, Mummy, Noodle and Monster) had a great time with Mickey Moose in Anaheim and manage to get home safely.

Happy Birthday, Rocky!

It's pretty cool that I can speak with you on your birthday and at the same time you can speak with me on my birthday! A pity that you weren't here to enjoy some of these with us last night, but I am sure that the Sea Treasure was good for dinner.
Have a good weekend.

We are really enjoying our holiday so far

and looking forward to getting down into the hills next week. Sadly, the weather report doesn't look too great but if it means that we have to sit in a hotel, read a book and take it easy for a couple of days, that is not too tragic is it? A lot of cooking and preparation to be done today before our guests arrive this evening- it will be fun to eat tapas and drink a little too much wine with some good friends tonight (getting up to go to the office in the morning is another story).
Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday Guys!!

Best wishes to Campbell and Angus who are both celebrating birthdays today!! We hope that you both have great days and we will try to speak with you a little later.
It was fun to chat over skype with you on Sunday and the food on the bbq looked great!!
Enjoy your birthdays- sorry that we can't be there to celebrate with you and we look forward to catching up with you both again soon.

much love,
Uncle David and Aunty Catherine xxxxxxx

Congratulations to Campbell on winning the Rugby

we will have more details a little later, but it sounds as if it was a proper "mud-fest" that has finished in a great result. He is on the way now to have lunch with the gang in Northbridge- have fun and we will try to chat with you later.
Congratulations to Mike and Simone too- on the safe arrival of Giorgette Rose. I tried to call earlier to wish you a Happy Father's Day buddy.............. surprise, surprise..... couldn't get hold of you.
Catherine and I are officially on holiday and as you would expect, the weather is miserable and it is pouring rain again here today :-( Things are meant to brighten up this coming week and we hope to get out and do some things outdoors (fingers crossed). It will be enjoyable in any case- might even fit in a movie or two if it stays like this.

One more day to go

and then it is holiday time. I will gladly admit that it is a great relief to know that I can have a couple of relaxing weeks and only get up early if I want to. We hope to spend a few days down in the Engadine and also do a little entertaining and sleeping in here.
The Mighty Moose hasn't yet made the news services so I guess that things went well in Vegas and I can only hope that all goes smoothly in Raincouver too. Thanks again for the birthday wishes- I will certainly raise a glass (or two) and think of you all next week.
It is a very busy month as far as birthdays are concerned....... Angus, Campbell, Steven, Catherine, Simone and another little Seres...... plenty of good reasons to celebrate! With "Talk Like A Pirate Day" thrown into the mix, it will be a month to remember.